Introduction (Click here for a pdf print ready flyer of this document.)
The Community Access Cable TV Project (the program library is called the "Other Voices" Video Series) is an organized effort to distribute videotapes to local access TV stations, taking advantage of federal guidelines that require these stations to air non-commercial programs submitted by members of the community. We distribute this series to a network of individual AfD members and allied organizations, who participate by completing the simple, necessary paperwork and delivering the videos to their local cable station. 

The "Other  Voices" Community Cable Project, developed initially as a project of the Northbridge Chapter of the Alliance for Democracy, covered numerous towns in the Greater Boston Area. Now the Project is being expanded to two larger arenas--one into the Northeast Region and the other at the national level with a separate form of distribution. For both arena a short logging/evaluation form will enable assessment of the type of use on community cable and extent of play-time. This will allow for systematic evaluation of the project.

The goal has been to provide communities with independent, educational perspectives that have been under-represented or stifled, and sometimes deliberately repressed, by the mainstream media. The range of topics represented in "Other Voices" is wide, reflecting the many facets of corporate domination that have so profoundly eroded the functioning of our democracy and led to unacceptable, destructive militarism.

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Here we provide
(I) a short statement of the rationale for making easily available the "Other Voices" not usually available on mainstream media;
(II) the simple steps to make these presentations easily available to all interested members, friends and allies of the Alliance for Democracy;
(III) suggestions for varied use of the DVD and VHS tapes, and
(IV) a list of titles currently available in either VHS or DVD format.
    
(I)  Rationale: Recognizing that the Progressive Movement cannot, at this time, fully compete with the Radical Right in the coinage of big money and their additional tools of heavily influencing think-tanks and domination of media, we must assess, and energetically utilize, the tools that are available to the Progressive Movement.
The primary resource we have is large and growing numbers of increasingly exercised citizens.   

What are some of the ways we "Lilliputians" can use media to penetrate and overcome the domination that now exists? One of several options easily available to us is greater utilization of the free public access community cable network available in nearly every town in the country. Local access stations are legally required to air programs submitted by members of that community, as long as the programs do not contain commercial messages.

(II) Simple Steps: Generally, a community resident must submit two forms along with the program tape to the station: a simple "resident" form with name and contact information of the resident, and a "disclaimer" from the program's producer, releasing broadcast rights. We have received producer disclaimer forms for all program tapes we offer and will supply them along with the tape. This last requirement eliminates some TV productions, especially PBS projections that fit the "progressive" description. However, "Other Voices" is accumulating an impressive library of progressive programs from independent media that have been released for broadcast.

For those interested in participating in this Alliance for Democracy project for creating and airing programs in your community, we can supply other useful resources. This include not just the professionally packaged tapes and producer release forms, but also some templates for neighborhood flyers.

Each tape begins with a short "leader" identification of AID as the distributor. "Other Voices" uses a simple scheduling model in which each town airs one program a month, on a repeating weekly basis. Since only one tape is made available each month, volunteer time is minimized and publicity (flyers, e-mail and newspaper announcements, etc.) is simplified.

In return for the VHS tape or DVD each person receives, they are asked to submit a brief report showing place and times of airing in order to help evaluate the effectiveness of this independent, educational media project.

(III) Suggested Uses: Tapes can also be used for settings other than community cable, for example, home gatherings or public venues such as libraries, etc. Perhaps there is a local person knowledgeable in a topic who could be invited to supplement and assist with discussion. Relevant literature and suggested actions on that topic could be made available, as well as general AfID literature. If there is sufficient interest, gatherings could become regular and lead to chapter formation. Outreach to related peace, environmental, electoral and health organizations could publicize the selections relating most directly to their issues and actions. These individuals and groups could then become part of the network showing "Other Voices" in order to provide broader awareness of their issue.

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(IV) "OTHER VOICES" CURRENTLY AVAILABLE TO SUBMIT TO YOUR LOCAL CABLE STATION    3/31/06

Listed by TITLE, SPEAKER, DATE, DURATION (Note:  Titles in Solid Caps are anti-war topics)    
        
1 "A Journalist's View of the Climate Crisis" Ross Gelbspan  5/17/05  60"
2 "An Introduction to the Alliance for Democracy" Charles Derber & Ruth Weizenbaum 11/03 60"
3 "Confronting Empire Zia Mian 10/10/03
4 "Corporate Control of the Media"  William Rivers Pitt 5/10/2005 58"            
5 "Corporate/Democracy Polarization" Jonathan Leavitt, Mass Anti-Corporate Clearinghouse  30"        6 "DANCE OF DEATH" Program 4 Iraq War series
7 "Defending the Commons: The Political Struggle for Water" Produced by Joe Public Films  49"
8 "GLOBAL WARNING: (..200 warheads in Israel..) Mordechai Vanunu 30"
9 "GLOBALIZATION AT GUNPOINT"-Economics of Occupation Program 1 Iraq War series
10 "Hijacking Catastrophe: 9/11….. " Julian Bond
11 "NATIONAL INSECURITIES" Program 2 Iraq War series.
12 "Restoring American Democracy" Rudy Perkins  2003  30"
13 "Silencing Dissent:  Media Politics After September 11" SUE BRIDGE & CYNTHIA PETER  6/13/02
14 "THE DOWNING STREET BASEMENT TAPES" Congressional Hearing  6/16/06  40"
15 "The Fight For Clean Elections" JOHN BONIFAZ  7/16/02  60"
16 "The Future of Water: Water, Politics & Earth" VANDANA SHIVA.  10/27/05
17 "THE REAL FACE OF THE OCCUPATION" Program 3 Iraq War series
18 "Venezuela from Below" Spanish with English subtitles. 59"
19 "WORLD TRIBUNAL ON IRAQ" Program 5 Iraq War series.  58"                             
20 "WORLDS APART:  9/11 FIRST RESPONDERS AGAINST WAR" Ground Zero for Peace. Afghanistan May 2004. 60"        
21  "Biological Weapons and The New Arms Race"  30"
22  "The Case For Impeachment" JOHN BONIFAZ  7/23/05  46"

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DISTRIBUTOR FORM --National

COMMUNITY CABLE PROJECT, "OTHER VOICES SERIES" of Alliance for Democracy


Name_______________________________    E-Mail_________________________

Phone________________________

Address______________________ City____________________ State___________ Zip#__________

NAME OF VIDEO

TOWNS COVERED 

STATION NAME

NAME OF STATION CONTACT___________________________  PHONE

PERIOD SHOWN

Beginning date Ending date Times per week

Were you able to verify that planned scheduling did occur?

Does station display schedule announcement?  Daily?____   Other?___________.

Please indicate format capabilities of your station.  ____VHS _____DVD     _____Both

    PROCESS for delivering video to the community cable station.

______  Simple drop-off and pick-up.

______  Additional requirements (Please briefly detail.)



    ADDITIONAL COMMENTS OR FEEDBACK ON  VIDEO CONTENT, ETC:





Thank you for your cooperation in submitting this brief report.  It will enable us to evaluate the effectiveness of this independent, educational media project.